Wine and Socialites
by PinkElephant42
Summary: Oneshot HPDM. Harry hated these sorts of social obligations, but among the upper class and highpower socialites, Draco was in his element…


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A/N: I wrote this for a prompt for 100quills, but then I re-wrote it, and now it doesn't fit that or any of the other prompts I'm supposed to be writing for.

On that note, the story I did post on 100quills is in my livejournal, with a rating of nc-17, is far too pwp for The link is in my profile.

Also, thank you to HPalto87 for beta-ing!

Wine and Socialites

Harry hated these sorts of social obligations, but among the upper class and high-power socialites, Draco was in his element. Despite the fact he was dating a half-blood, he was still a Malfoy, after all. Harry was always impressed with the way his boyfriend handled himself among these wizards. He always knew just what to do and say, remembered all of their names, and could speak intelligently about people whom Harry knew Draco cared nothing about. He easily fell into his roll as a wealthy aristocrat, and Harry simply sat back and let him.

Ever since he had killed Voldemort, Harry had been invited to these sorts of high-class social gatherings. It was a virtual who's-who of the wizarding world, and the people who cared about such things as social status were always delighted to get an invite.

Harry had never been one of those people. No one could get enough of the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice, and Harry often spent the evenings answering questions that he didn't want to even think about. It seemed like everyone wanted to hear his story first-hand. Harry hated the prying questions and the forced small-talk, and secretly hoped the novelty of the hero would wear off so he could stop attending these horrible things.

The first one he had been invited to was thrown by the Ministry a few months after the war. Harry hadn't known what to expect, and had thoroughly embarrassed himself simply by how awkward he acted among the guests. It was obvious that he didn't belong in this world.

He had gone to the party alone that night. Ginny had offered to go with him, as they were still friends, even though Harry had broken up with her when he realized he was gay. He couldn't bring himself to drag her or any of his friends to such an awkward, pointless event, however. They were all busy trying to piece their lives together after the war.

It was that night that Harry had begun to talk to Draco. They had barely spoken since sixth year, both too busy with the war. Draco had defected to the Order after the disaster at the end of sixth year, but he worked as a spy, and Harry hardly saw him. They had stopped fighting, but hadn't taken the time to get to know each other.

When Draco approached him at that first party, Harry couldn't exactly say he was happy to see him, but shook his hand and acted amicable anyway. It turned out that Draco had simply come to make fun of Harry for looking so out of place. Harry responded with a few snide comments of his own regarding former Death Eaters, and the two of them had actually laughed about it. They formed a tentative friendship that quickly grew into something more as they realized that despite their past, they had quite a bit in common.

The wizarding world had grudgingly accepted the relationship, though many "concerned friends" had tried desperately to warn them away from each other. This only proved to strengthen their relationship, however, and Harry and Draco were now one of the most well-known and controversial couples in the wizarding world.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry smiled as Draco placed a hand on his lower back and pulled him close for a kiss.

"What are you thinking about, love?" Draco asked.

"Us," Harry replied.

Draco smiled. It was a rare, genuine smile, the sort that few people got to see on Draco.

"I hate these sort of parties," Harry said.

"We'll leave soon," Draco promised. "I just need to talk to Blaise Zabini about something. Meet me here in twenty minutes, okay?" He kissed Harry lightly, and wandered off without waiting for an answer.

Harry was left standing alone, holding a glass of wine that he didn't even like, and wondering what the bloody hell he was supposed to do until Draco came back. He felt silly just standing there. He looked around the room, searching for a familiar face, someone who he wouldn't feel so out-of-place around.

"Harry Potter?" Harry turned, and was surprised to see Cho Chang behind him.

"Err… hi, Cho," he stammered. He hadn't seen her since she left Hogwarts.

She pulled him into an awkward hug, as they were both trying not to spill their wine.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"Well… you know… the war and all… I get loads of invites to this sort of thing," Harry said. He hated talking about the war to begin with, and he couldn't say something like, 'Well, I am the savior of the whole bloody wizarding world, of course I'm invited to all these pointless, high-class parties.' A little modesty was a good thing. Usually, though, someone said as much for him. Cho was no exception.

"Oh, of course!" Cho said. "You did save us all."

"Err… yeah," Harry said unintelligently.

Cho sipped her wine, and Harry felt he should do the same. He took a sip, and cringed at the sensation it caused going down his throat. Cho giggled. She still had a cute laugh.

"What?" Harry asked defensively.

"You don't like the wine?" she asked.

"No. Draco likes wine," Harry said.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy," Cho said knowingly. "I've read quite a bit about you two. You're always in the papers."

"I wish we weren't," Harry frowned.

"Don't you like being famous? After what you did, you deserve it," Cho said.

"I want to live in peace," Harry replied. "I don't need my private affairs all over the news."

"Why do you love him?" Cho asked, and Harry thought this was a wildly inappropriate question to be asking anyone. "I mean, besides the fact that he's filthy rich, and gorgeous."

Draco was exactly what Harry needed. He didn't question his past, or the things he had to do during the war. In return, Harry did the same for Draco. They were more alike than they ever could have admitted when they were in Hogwarts, and it just took them a while to realize it. They had a very loving and supportive relationship, and offered each other unconditional companionship despite their rocky pasts.

"He understands me," Harry said simply.

"He's a Death Eater," Cho frowned.

"There are several former Death Eaters here tonight," Harry pointed out. "And they've all been cleared of charges."

Thinking about Death Eaters and Voldemort and the war was making his stomach turn. Or maybe it was the wine. He placed the glass on a nearby table.

"But that doesn't mean-" Harry cut her off with a glare that said. She got the hint, and quieted. They fell into an uncomfortable silence that lasted a bit too long.

"About the papers," Harry said finally, going back to an earlier topic, "don't believe everything you read about Draco and me. They tend to be biased against him, and I'm not the innocent saint they make me out to be."

Either Cho didn't want to comment on that, or she was oblivious to Harry's partiality against the papers.

"I wish I was famous like you," Cho said dreamily. "I'm acting now, you know!"

She sounded excited, so Harry smiled for her, but he was amazed at the way she always managed to bring the conversation around to herself.

"I just got a part in a muggle play, _The Taming of the Shrew_. It will be showing in London in the spring. You should come, I'll send you tickets," Cho said.

"So you'll be famous too soon," Harry said. He figured it was pointless to try to explain to her how much he hated it. Draco understood, and his close friends did, and that's what mattered. The opinions of the socialites at these parties didn't impress or matter much to Harry.

"Oh, I hope so!" Cho said. She looked over Harry's shoulder then. "Oh! There's Michael! I'll talk to you later, love." She kissed Harry on the cheek and pranced off to corner some other bloke unlucky enough to be subject to her mindless chatter.

Harry wondered why he had ever had a crush on her in the first place. But then, she was pretty, and popular, and a lot of things that Harry wasn't when they were in Hogwarts. And back then, he had fully been in denial about being gay. Harry supposed that if he wasn't gay, and she hadn't been so hung up on Cedric, their relationship would have lasted longer. Maybe he would be attending these parties with her instead of Draco by his side.

Harry felt a pang of guilt at the thought of being with anyone besides Draco. Draco was his one, his love. They had been through quite a bit together, he wasn't about to give that up.

Harry felt familiar arms around his waist, and leaned back into Draco. "Ready to go, love?" he asked.

"Yeah," Draco responded. He kissed Harry's head, then led him to the floo.

"Hey, Malfoy!" A loud voice rang over the mild chatter of the party.

Draco stiffened and turned. Blaise was pointing his wand at him. "What?" he asked icily.

"If you're going to choose a filthy half-blood over me, you don't deserve to carry the Malfoy name," he spat.

Draco looked at Harry with eyes telling his boyfriend to stay quiet. He looked back at Blaise with a challenging sneer.

"That's fine by me. When we get married, I'll just take Harry's name," Draco said. "Draco Potter. It has a bit of a ring to it, don't you think?"

This caught the attention of everyone in the room. Draco looked proud of himself, and happy to be the center of attention. He turned back to Harry. "That is, if you say yes." Harry was looking at him with large, stunned eyes. "I was going to ask you tomorrow, on our anniversary, but now is a good a time as any." Draco took Harry's hand and bowed in the traditional pure-blood fashion. "Harry Potter, I would be honored if you would be my husband."

"Err… okay," Harry stammered.

Draco stood up strait. "Okay? Not a resounding 'Yes?'"

Harry smiled. "Yes, Draco, I will marry you." He threw his arms around Draco and kissed him. Somewhere nearby the flash of a camera went off.

Harry looked at Draco apologetically. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting that. It was a bit of a shock."

Draco nodded. "It's okay, love."

They left then, ignoring the prying questions that were being thrown their way. They just wanted each other at the moment. As they stumbled through the floo in Harry's apartment, they were both laughing.

"That really was brilliant," Harry said. "Did you see all of their faces?"

"Yes," Draco said. He grabbed Harry around the waist and pulled him down onto the couch. Harry laughed some more, but soon calmed down and settled back against Draco's chest.

"You realize that's going to be all over the papers in the morning," Draco said seriously. "I know how you hate that sort of thing."

"This time, it's okay. I don't care that everyone knows I'm in love with you. This is about our future, not our past," Harry replied.

"What if they bring our past into it?" Draco asked.

"Then we tell them it's none of their business, like we always do," Harry said.

"This isn't going to be easy, is it, love?" Draco asked.

"No, but who ever said fame and love were easy?" Harry replied. He turned in Draco's arms and kissed him deeply. "But none of it even matters as long as I have you."


End file.
